TEST
When it’s done well, fantasy and science fiction can be breathtaking, twisting the constraints with which humans see themselves and their world. Amateurish SF/F, however, reads like a high schooler’s first attempt at writing after getting stoned and playing Dungeons and Dragons. The first three quarters of Virtual Warrior reads, unfortunately, like the latter; the last quarter comes as a surprise, since it has a lot more action and suspense than the entire first part.
Neil Scott owns a video game store in Ocean City, New Jersey (America’s Greatest Family Resort, by the way, a dry town started as a religious community). Worn out from caring for his recently deceased alcoholic mother, Neil, who doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, decides to literally enter the video game Tolemac Wars III, as his partner did in Virtual Desire. The poster advertising the game features a princess charged with protecting the ice, a highly prized item, apparently (its significance is unexplained) for the Selaw from the Tolemac – she is a literal ice princess. Neil jumps in, and lands right in the action, saving Ardra (the princess) in only the first of four such rescues that happen throughout the book. “Neil” becomes “Lien,” just as the old wise man is “Nilmer”. There are also characters called “Samoht,” “Einalem” and “Tol”. Not to even mention that the regions themselves are “Tolemac” and “Selaw”. You do the backwards reading. Those details were just silly, showing the same lack of imagination that also plagued the action.
Lien is confused and entertained by the new world he has entered; neither pilgrim nor warrior, he is also physically very different from the game’s inhabitants. He is dark and carries markings that reveal to the other characters that he is special (to us, he’s just got a tattoo). Lien also has a sense of humor and humility about himself and the world he’s in, as well as a growing respect for Ardra that is winningly portrayed.
The problems with the book occur in the action, which plods along with all the speed of an inchworm (at one point I described reading it as wading through gruel), and is also just about as compelling. The primary action in the book – the quest for the Vial of Seduction – takes an awfully long time to get moving, and the ultimate resolution is anti-climactic. The passages where Lien finds and exhibits his true powers are disappointly short, since those sections of the book represented something a little out of the norm.
The female and male characters embody so many stereotypes that they barely even seem two-dimensional. It is true that Lawrence remains true to the usual gaming constructs – video games are not known for their forward thinking, especially when it comes to sex roles – but it was disappointing that she stuck so much to what has been done many times before. The individuals themselves were also fairly stereotypical: there’s Ardra, the ice princess who thaws out; Einalem, who is a promiscuous brat; her brother Samoht; a bully who thinks women exist for one purpose; and the goddess Cidre, a vengeful feminine force who believes her looks will get her what she wants. The only character who escapes the cookie cutter treatment is Lien, who actually seems like a real person. As the action progresses, he finds a mission in life, a purpose that eluded him back in Ocean City.
Although there is some graphic sex detailed here, the actual writing of those scenes is so mundane as to make it only mildly warm, not steamy. It was hard to get caught up in the action, and everything about the scenes was formulaic and forced. Like the other action in the book, the sex also took a long time to get going.
Virtual Warrior is a dull read, not a good thing in a sub-genre that owes more to excitement and action than to character. For a category of books that thrives on innovation and new ways of seeing, this book is a stagnant sign. That said, the book is not a total failure, and if author Lawrence can create in an entire book what she showed in the last quarter of this one, she’ll be on to something, something that’s worth reading.
Grade: D
Book Type: Fantasy Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 08/10/02
Publication Date: 2002
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.